Stem cell transplant program coming to MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper

CAMDEN – A cancer center here is preparing to open South Jersey’s first stem cell transplant program.

The 30-bed unit for patients with blood and other cancers, as well as bone marrow disorders, is expected to open this fall at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper.

The program will operate from space reserved for its use since the four-story, 130,000-square-foot center opened a decade ago.

“The process of blood and marrow transplantation has been greatly refined in recent years,” Dr. Roger Strair said in explaining the decision to launch the Blood & Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy program.

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Strair, the program’s director, also noted the development of “more effective and less toxic therapies … to meet the needs of increasing numbers of patients from our area.”

In addition, the program will offer cell therapy, which treats patients with their own modified immune cells.

Expansion planned for Camden cancer center

Strair gave no cost for the program’s development but described it as “a large investment.”

Cooper and MD Anderson in September announced plans for a $2 billion expansion of the cancer center. The project is to include construction of three clinical towers with more than 100 patient rooms.

While stem cell transplants are available at several Philadelphia hospitals, the South Jersey program should have a special appeal to local residents, Strair asserted.

“For some patients, the blood stem cell transplant process can be very complex, requiring hospitalization followed by frequent office and treatment visits,” he said.

“Continuity of care close to home, with family and friends nearby to provide emotional and other support, will be a great benefit,” he said.

Camden cancer center poised for expansion

The Camden center initially will offer autologous transplants, where the patient is able to provide their own stem cells.

It expects to provide allogenic transplants, which involve donor cells, next year.

Allogenic transplants help patients with leukemias and related diseases, as well as illnesses like aplastic anemia. Strair said.

Autologous transplants, which subject patients to high-dose chemotherapy, are useful in treating multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin disease.

"Some patients with germ cell tumors such as testicular cancer may also benefit from autologous transplant," Strair said.

The multi-step autologous process begins when a patient's stem cells are "harvested" and frozen in a days-long process, apheresis, that's similar to dialysis.

At the time of the transplant, the patient receives a dose of chemotherapy that destroys cancerous cells. But the massive dose, under normal conditions, would also leave the body unable to make blood cells.

To prevent that, the frozen cells - which were not exposed to the chemotherapy - are thawed and returned to the patient, Strair continued.

The patient then lives under quarantine in a medical facility, typically for two to three weeks, as the stem cells begin to restore their immune system. Additional recovery can follow at home.

The center's cell therapy program will modify a patient's immune cells to attack cancer cells, Strair added.

"Our initial cell therapy patients will be treated for lymphoma, multiple myeloma or acute lymphocytic leukemia," the doctor said.

Initially, cells for transplants will be harvested in the cancer center at Haddon Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

“Over the course of the next several years, new facilities for obtaining and processing blood stem cells will be built in Camden,” said Strair.

“We have the objective of growing our program,” he said. “That is likely to soon result in a program performing hundreds of transplants and cell therapy procedures each year.”

Separately, Cooper and two partners in July announced initial pledged funding of $30 million for an effort "to investigate cancer and translate basic cancer science into new treatments."

Its partners are Coriell Institute for Medical Research and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, both in Camden.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper to provide stem cell transplants